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IMPRESSIVE BULLFIGHTING IMAGES IN MICHAEL
CROUSER’S NEW BOOK LOS TOROS |
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IMPRESSIVE BULLFIGHTING IMAGES IN MICHAEL
CROUSER’S NEW BOOK LOS TOROS |
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In September 2007 the Twin
Palms Publishers will release the bullfighting photography book LOS TOROS by
the gifted photographer Michael Crouser.
The book features more than
120 impressive black and white pictures on the the subject of bullfighting, and it
is introduced by the renowned Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa who, in an
erudite essay, relates his experiences with the Fiesta Brava in his native
Peru, and gives his views on bullfighting as a cultural and artistic
expression.
Michael Crouser, in addition
to being a talented professional with the camera, is a bullfighting aficionado
who, during sixteen years, attended many corridas in the bullrings of Spain,
Mexico, Ecuador and France capturing the soul of bullfighting with his
inquisitive camera. From thousands of images he has selected over 120 unique
photographs that form the body of his attractive work LOS TOROS.
Michael’s book should appeal not only to the toreo aficionados but also to
those people who appreciate photography as a work of art.
Michael made a presentation
of his book at “La Tertulia” meeting of the Taurine Bibliophiles of America
–TBA---, which took place on June 30 in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania. First,
Jack Bona, former president of TBA, read Mario Vargas Llosa ‘s prologue, and
later Michael projected slides of some of the pictures printed on his
publication. What is unusual about the images of Michael’s photos is that they
do not emphasize only the ability of the toreros or the quality of their
passes, as most bullfighting pictures do. On the other hand, Michael focuses
his camera not only on the stars of the show but on all the participants,
including the audience, highlighting the dramatic, the unusual and the human,
or inhuman, aspect of the toreo. Also, as he said when someone in the audience
asked him during his presentation why his photos were in black and white, he
explained that he wanted to show the essential bare bones of the subjects of
the lens of his camera, without the distractions of the colorful aspects
surrounding the spectacle of bullfighting.
